Thursday, June 01, 2006

Sticktoitiveness

Word for the Day: Sticktoitiveness.If you use this word then it means: 1) You watch too much Sports Center/ESPN/Nightly Sportscast, etc., 2) I’m thinking about slapping you for repeating it as if it’s a REAL WORD because it’s NOT and using it makes me think of my ex-boyfriend from college, who really needed someone to slap him, or 3) if you put the words “statistical iterative” in front of it, as in “statistical iterative sticktoitiveness” you are my husband. And no, I have no idea what that phrase means, other than it hurts my brain to write it. I also did not slap him, although I did try to push him off the path.

Since I finished my FBS (coolest shawl EVER) I’ve finished up two more pairs of baby socks (yes, I know there is only one Hugs and Kisses sock pictured, but trust me, there are two now.) I have now made all of the patterns for the baby socks from IK Summer 2005 (five different patterns) and so I thought I might impart some of the knowledge I have gained in doing so.

First, I love, love, love Lorna’s Laces. Best sock yarn ever. Seriously. Second, you can only get three pairs of socks out of one skein of Lorna’s Laces if you either knit more tightly than I do (I doubt this is really a possibility) or you do not count the Ruffle Rib Socks as one of the three pairs. The Ruffle Rib Socks are cute but you have to cast on 84 (or is it 88?) stitches initially to form the ruffle. Personally, I didn’t really think it was worth it. Third, when forming a picot edge on a pair of baby socks knit with Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock on size 0 needles, you may very well need a crochet hook to do so. Fourth, the person who invented the short row heel and toe is/was a genius. A fucking genius, I tell you!

Fifth (yes I arbitrarily threw in a paragraph break. So?) the Cable Rib Socks employ the neatest fake cable technique. It looks like you cabled them but you didn’t. And that means that you don’t have to pull out the fifth dpn in the set and push the held stitch on and knit the next stitch then knit the held stitch. Instead you do something infinitely easier. Sixth, the Braided Cable and the Hugs and Kisses Socks are so cool it’s totally worth doing the cable thing with that fifth needle. And finally, you should totally make some of these socks if you know someone with an infant. They’re a big hit, in large part, because they will actually stay on the little girl or little guy’s feet.

Oh, and I went to Holy Threads last night, on the advice of Moni and it was pretty exciting for me. They didn’t have any Dale but they did have a ton of yarn. I didn’t like the way they organized a lot of their yarn, but there was a lot of it. Some of it was overpriced ($18 for a ball of Opal? In Spokane? Where I generally get mine for $12?) but they also have a “secret garden” where they invite you to knit any time during normal business hours. Oh, and I bought a hank of Opal handpainted for $18 (notice how they priced the handpainted the same as the regular Opal? Methinks there may have been a mistake in the pricing of one or the other) and three balls of Frog Tree 100% alpaca, on sale, each for $3.00. I thought that was a pretty good deal.